Sentencing to suspended imprisonment of two other members of the

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Iran.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI) of the sentencing to suspended imprisonment of Ms. Nasim Sarabandi and Ms. Fatemeh Dehdashti, two women’s rights activists involved in the “One Million Signatures Campaign”, which aims at revising discriminatory legislation against women.

According to the information received, on August 12, 2007, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Ms. Sarabandi and Ms. Dehdashti to six months’ suspended imprisonment for “actions against national security through the spread of propaganda against the State”.

These two women were arrested in January 2007 while collecting signatures in the subway, in the framework of the “One million signatures” campaign. They were subsequently held in detention at Gisha prison for 24 hours before being released on bail.

On April 18, 2007, Ms. Sarabandi and Ms. Dehdashti were summoned to the security section of the Revolutionary Courts and then taken to Eshrat Abad, the headquarters of the Security Police, where they were interrogated. They were then transferred to Revolutionary Courts’ Special Prosecutor’s Office on Security, where they were charged.

The Observatory expresses its deep concern about the increasing repression of the Iranian authorities against human rights defenders, in particular pro-reform students, intellectuals and women’s rights activists involved in the “One Million Signatures Campaign”[1]. The Observatory strongly condemns the increasing number of abusive sentences pronounced by the Iranian judiciary against women’s rights defenders and considers it as a tool to repress their activities.

The Observatory further wishes to insist on the fact that Iran had committed to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”[2] by presenting its candidacy to the Human Rights Council 2006 election and had insisted in this regard on the fact that the country had “continuously put great efforts into safeguarding the status and inherent dignity of the human person as well as the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”[3]. In order to ensure the continuation of these efforts, the Observatory urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to conform with international human rights standards.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Sarabandi and Ms. Dehdashti as well as all activists engaged in the “One million signatures” campaign;
2. Ensure that Ms. Sarabandi and Ms. Dehdashti be granted a fair and impartial trial when appealing her sentencing, so that the charges against her be dropped as they seem to merely sanction her human rights activities and as such are arbitrary;
3. Drop all arbitrary charges against all women’s rights defenders involved in the “One million signatures” campaign;
4. Put an end to all acts of harassment against all Iranian human rights defenders;
5. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, Article 5(a), which states that “for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels, to meet peacefully” and Article 12.2, which reads that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the [...] Declaration”;
6. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Iran.

Addresses:

• Leader of the Islamic Republic, His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street, Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran, Faxes: + 98.21.649.5880 / 21.774.2228, Email: info@leader.ir / istiftaa@wilayah.org / webmaster@wilayah.org;
• President, His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98.21.649.5880, E-mail: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir;
• Head of the Judiciary, His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: +98.21.879.6671 / +98 21 3 311 6567, Email: Irjpr@iranjudiciary.com;
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Manuchehr Motaki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: + 98.21.390.1999, Email: matbuat@mfa.gov;
• Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7330203, Email: mission.iran@ties.itu.int;
• Ambassador Mr. Ahani, Embassy of Iran in Brussels, avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 15 A. 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 762 39 15. Email: iran-embassy@yahoo.com.

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Iran in your respective country.

***

Paris - Geneva, August 22, 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] For more information, see Observatory Urgent Appeals IRN 001/0107/OBS 003 (issued on January 17, 2007), IRN 002/0307/OBS 023 (March 5, 2007), 023.1 (March 8, 2007), 023.2 (March 20, 2007), 023.3 (April 5, 2007), 023.4 (April 30, 2007) and 023.5 (May 30, 2007), as well as the Press Releases of January 29 and May 21, 2007.

[2] In accordance with GA resolution A/RES/60/251 establishing the Human Rights Council.

[3] See http://www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc/iran.pdf.